Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1885-1890, 1887-01-22
H LOST NUGGET.

There were a few lines of telegraph
matter in the daily press a few days ago
to the effect that a party had left Colorado
Springs to huut for the "Lost Nugget
Among the romances of the gold coast
there are two which will live beyond all
others. The one is the "Lost Cabin" and
the other the "Lost Nugget Both have
a foundation in fact, but the story OF the
"Lost Nugget is the more truthful.
In the old mining days of California five
or six men who had come out together
from Indiana had a claim on the San
joaquin river. They were doing fairly,
well, but nothing to brag Of, when one of
them. a man named Charles 7. Tooker,
whose relatives yet live in indianapolis,
made the discovery of the celebrated mug
get. It was in the spring of the year, and
he was out hunting for roots and herbs to
cure a sort of scurvy which had taken hold
of some of them. In climbing up a bank
be dislodged a bowlder, and as this rolled
down it uncovered the nugget. 1t was 8
chunk of crude gold weighing about so
pounds. Il is not likely that the mass was
as pure as the average of SMALL nuggets
but still it must have been worth many
thousand dollars. The entire bank was
afterward dug away, and the neighbor-
hood for half a mile around carefully
searched. but without another ounce Of
gold being found.
Tooker was a single man, about p years
old, and up to this time it had been share
and share alike with the little band. His
mind was instantly made up to keep his
discovery to himself, and get away with
his treasure at the first opportunity. He
dug a hole and buried the find, carefully
marked the spot, and returned to camp
and tried to conceal his satisfaction and
anxiety. It was q month before he made
any money. His object was to get the mug
get to San Francisco, and it must be carried
on the back of a horse or mule. He had
to invent an excuse for separating himself
from the band, and thus probably gave
rise to the first suspicious. Toeker pur-
chased 8 mule of an immigrant, hung
around until he believed it was safe for
him to depart, and then dug up his mug
get one night and set out on a journey
which it would not have been safe Tor half
a dozen mep to undertake. Those were
rough days, and men who had met with
poor luck hunting for gold in the earth
were on the road as robbers and assassins.
lockers companions felt certain that he
had made a find, and his every action was
under surveillance for several days before
he started. He quietly withdrew from
camp at night, led the mule to the spot
where the nugget was cached, AND loading
it upon a pack saddle, he started OF. He
must have known of the dangers of the
road, but the desire to convert that big
lump into gold pieces oyercame his pru-
dence. He was followed by W of his
companions, but they hardly knew what
course to take. He had made a find and
was "jumping' them, but they had no
legal right to force a division.
Tooker was followed until daybreak, and
the men had about made up their minds
to halt him and force him to turn back
with his precious load when he was at
tackled by four or five footpads. A lively
fight ensued, and Tooker and one of his
pursuers were killed and the other was
driven of. He returned to camp with the
story. and this was the first of a long series
of adventures in which the big nugget has
figured. lockers friends determined to
overhaul the robbers, and, five in number,
they broke camp at once, and began a pur-
suit. The footpads had a camp or rem
devious within a few miles of where the
robbery occurred, and the nugget was
taken there for safety. This camp was
discovered by the Tooker crowd, and in
the fight which followed two of them
were killed, while only one of the robbers
escaped with his life. The nugget had
been buried, and although the closest
search was made for it the victors did not
nnearth it. The robber who escaped made
his way to San Francisco, and six months
later set about organizing an expedition to
go after the lump. One of the men who
was to accompany him got the location OF
the cache and set out with a companion